Madurai: The ‘Denotified Tribes Welfare Association (DTWA)’ submitted a petition to the district collector Veera Raghava Rao on Monday, requesting him to suspend the screening of the recently released film Theeran Athigaram Onru until scenes depicting denotified tribes in a negative light were removed.
The association demanded removal of the word ‘criminal tribes’ in the first scene, the hero explaining to the Rajasthan police about thugs of 1830s, the hero reading a Tamil history book on criminal tribes, specific reference to names of various denotified and nomadic tribes and derogatory remarks against the ‘Vettaikaran’ community, from the film. “We are wounded by the derogatory depiction of criminal tribes in India. All members from our community and other community members who watched the movie have invariably reported that the movie has depicted denotified tribes in a bad light,” said the members who submitted the petition during the grievances day at the Collectorate.The DTWA members claimed that the director of the movie had not verified historical records and facts because the nomenclature, ‘criminal tribes’, is a British invention to brand and isolate ‘martial aboriginal tribes’ who resisted the expansion of the British, said the members.
Through the draconian criminal acts of 1871, 1911, and 1924, these people were deprived of their historical past, said the members. “If those scenes are not removed from the movie, we will organise protests against the film crew for violation of rules across the state,” said the members.
